Deconstructing disengagement: analyzing learner subpopulations in massive open online courses
| Published | April 2013 |
| Conference | LAK '13: Proceedings of the Third International Conference on Learning Analytics and Knowledge Pages 170-179 |
| Country | United States, North America |
ABSTRACT
As MOOCs grow in popularity, the relatively low completion rates of learners has been a central criticism. This focus on completion rates, however, reflects a monolithic view of disengagement that does not allow MOOC designers to target interventions or develop adaptive course features for particular subpopulations of learners. To address this, we present a simple, scalable, and informative classification method that identifies a small number of longitudinal engagement trajectories in MOOCs. Learners are classified based on their patterns of interaction with video lectures and assessments, the primary features of most MOOCs to date.In an analysis of three computer science MOOCs, the classifier consistently identifies four prototypical trajectories of engagement. The most notable of these is the learners who stay engaged through the course without taking assessments. These trajectories are also a useful framework for the comparison of learner engagement between different course structures or instructional approaches. We compare learners in each trajectory and course across demographics, forum participation, video access, and reports of overall experience. These results inform a discussion of future interventions, research, and design directions for MOOCs. Potential improvements to the classification mechanism are also discussed, including the introduction of more fine-grained analytics.
| Keywords | MOOC · learner engagement · trajectories of engagement |
| Published at | California |
| Language | English |
| Refereed | Yes |
| DOI | 10.1145/2460296.2460330 |
| Export options | BibTex · EndNote · Tagged XML · Google Scholar |
Viewed by 428 distinct readers
CLOUD COMMUNITY REVIEWS
The evaluations below represent the judgements of our readers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Cloud editors.
Click a star to be the first to rate this document
▶ POST A COMMENT
SIMILAR RECORDS
Digging deeper into learners' experiences in MOOCs: Participation in social networks outside of MOOCs, notetaking and contexts surrounding content consumption
Veletsianos, George; Collier, Amy; Schneider, Emily
Researchers describe with increasing confidence what they observe participants doing in massive open online courses (MOOCs). However, our understanding of learner activities in open courses is limited by researchers' ...
Match: schneider, emily
MOOCs for professional teacher development
Jobe, William; Östlund, Christian; Svensson, Lars
A MOOC is a trending concept in education that is disrupting traditional methods of
learning consumption. The emergence and use of MOOCs for professional teacher development is still uncommon, but on the verge of ...
Match: mooc; united states
Developing a strategic approach to MOOCs
Ferguson, Rebecca; Scanlon, Eileen; Harris, Lisa
During the last eight years, interest in massive open online courses (MOOCs) has grown fast and continuously worldwide. Universities that had never engaged with open or online learning have begun to run courses in these ...
Match: mooc
MOOCs: A viable business model?
Epelboin, Yves; Jemni, Mohamed; Kinshuk; Khribi, Mohamed Koutheair
MOOCs are complex and expensive objects, which, contrary to ordinary courses, require a full team, to be created. There is a large gap between building and delivering a few MOOCs and systematically transforming a ...
Match: mooc
Toward a typology of MOOC activity patterns
Bachelet, Rémi; Chaker, Rawad; Kloos, Carlos Delgado; Jermann, Patrick; et al.
This paper aims at understanding MOOC learners' activity patterns, taking into account factors like personal schedule, traditional working hours, domestic time, nighttime and their relation with MOOC course opening ...
Match: mooc
Communication patterns in massively open online courses
Gillani, Nabeel; Eynon, Rebecca
Despite the hype and speculation about the role massively open online courses (MOOCs) may play in higher education, empirical research that explores the realities of interacting and learning in MOOCs is in its infancy. ...
Match: mooc
Editorial: Massive Open Online Courses, a perspective paper by Sir John Daniel
McAndrew, Patrick; Jones, Ann
This issue focusses on a perspective article by Sir John Daniel. Sir John has a long history of involvement with the Open University, the UK home of JIME. Indeed as he points out in his biography (Daniel, 2012), he ...
Match: mooc
The potential social, economic and environmental benefits of MOOCs: Operational and historical comparisons with a massive ‘closed online’ course
Lane, Andy; Caird, Sally; Weller, M.
Massive Online Open Courses (MOOCs) have recently become a much discussed development within higher education. Much of this debate focuses on the philosophical and operational similarities and differences between the ...
Match: mooc
A framework for the ethics of Open Education
Farrow, Rob
What difference does openness make to the ethics of teaching and research? This paper approaches this question both from the perspective of research into the use of open educational resources (OER) in teaching and ...
Match: mooc
Perfil e perceções dos potenciais participantes num MOOC
Simões, Dora; Barbosa, Belem; Pinto, Carolina
The MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses) are the latest training model offered. They are online training courses, open and free, and for massive access. But are these features enough to attract potential participants? ...
Match: mooc









